‘Harvesting money’ an eye-opener

Apr 07, 2009

I got 55 calls between 7:00am and 3:00pm. Such a thing had never happened in my entire life,” said Joseph Ssebugenyi, a farmer in Luweero.

By Joshua Kato

I got 55 calls between 7:00am and 3:00pm. Such a thing had never happened in my entire life,” said Joseph Ssebugenyi, a farmer in Luweero.

His was the second story of the Harvesting Money series, that have been running in The New Vision for the past two-and-a-half months.

The series are continuing once a week, every Thursday in Business Vision. Overall, 45 farmers who earn between sh40m to sh80m per year were profiled, with an equal number of farming tips running alongside the stories.

Judging from reactions from the public, the series have been an eye-opener to the country, that irrespective of the challenges, people can still earn from farming.

The series showed that there was little knowledge about farming in the country.

The calls the farmers received were not only from Uganda, but across the globe. In one instance, a farmer who is not so fluent in English sought refuge at the district headquarters after receiving several international calls.

“I gave my phone to one of the district leaders who helped me answer all the calls in English,” the farmer said.

And these were not calls to laugh about but enquiries on how people can improve their shambas. “Some called from abroad and enquired if I could manage their farms for them,” said Jolly Kabirizi.

Others called asking for quality seedlings or good quality pigs, goats and cows.

Before this, few people believed there were as many farmers as published in the series.

“Are you sure all those farmers are in Uganda?” asked Edward Lutaaya. All of them were and no story was disputed.

Knowing that there are farmers doing well in Uganda inspired many people.

“The stories of most of these farmers were narrated in such a way that a reader followed how they started and how they succeeded. That gave them an encouraging realism,” observes Dr. Andrew Kiggundu, an agriculture research scientist and head of the Bio-technology Centre, Kawanda.

The series suited everybody. From farmers who started humbly like Ssebugenyi, to those who have not yet started but have the potential they are not aware of. “I started with just a hoe and slasher,” Ssebugenyi said in the interview. This was a lesson that you do not need millions of shillings to start farming.

“I have 20 acres of land in Mityana, but most of it is bare because I thought that farming needed millions.When I read Ssebugenyi’s story, I realised that I was wasting my goldmine,” says Charles Ssemanda, a trader in Kampala.

The series also showed technocrats in the agriculture industry, especially agriculturalists, that it is better for them to practise agriculture, if they are to effectively disseminate agriculture development information to the public.

An example is Jolly Kabirizi. A foliage expert working with National Agriculture Research Organisation (NARO), Kabirizi had one of the most unique stories of the series. Using less than 10 decimals of land, she effectively keeps five dairy cows and over 20 goats.

Her monthly earnings from milk are in millions of shillings. “I realised that I could only sensitise farmers better if I also engaged in agriculture,” she says.

In reaction to Kabirizi story, a reader wrote: “I have eight acres in Matugga, and there is nothing on them. After reading about Kabirizi, I have discovered that I am stupid…”

Others include Dr. Eric Sabiiti who, although he is a don at MUK, loves farming.

The series also looked at small kinds of entandikwa that some people take lightly.

For example, Ruth Kibowa of Mayuge started with just one hen, given to her son as a gift by his grandfather. The hen hatched 11 chicks the first time, 13 on the next and after three years, she had 500 chicken from the chicken.

The aspect of unity as a tool to success was also portrayed. In the case of the Tubones in Mayuge, working with multinationals like Alex Bamweridde, a coffee farmer in Kikyusa, Luweero paid off.

In the next few weeks, The New Vision will be running analytical stories from the series, selected on account of the reactions from the public.

These series will be laced with quotes from farmers and the public. Among these include challenges to agriculture, most reacted- to enterprises like piggery, chicken-keeping, zero grazing and fish farming.

Next week, we shall have an analysis of the challenges farmers face, as seen by the farmers themselves.

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